SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Thursday’s “Confessions” episode of ABC’s “Confessions.”9-1-1.”

Following this week’s episode of “9-1-1,” Buck (Oliver Stark) and Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) are no longer sitting in a tree. The hour began with the young couple celebrating their last monthly anniversary and ended with their breakup, after Buck discovered that Tommy was engaged to his former great love Abby (Connie Britton), who left Los Angeles (and the “9-1- 1”). ) several years ago.

But it wasn’t Buck’s reaction to that revelation that ended the relationship, as Buck resolved his concerns about Tommy’s previous relationship with a woman and Buck’s first relationship with a man and eventually asked Tommy to move in with he. In fact, it was Tommy’s choice. breaking up with Buck when he decided that, although Buck might think he’s ready for that step, Tommy believes Buck will want to date other men or women later on, and Tommy won’t be the one he ends up with in the long run.

After that heartbreaking twist, Buck heads to Eddie’s (Ryan Guzmán) house to drown his sorrows with his best friend and Station 118 teammate, who has just overcome his recent depression.

In the following interview with VarietyStark dives into Buck’s latest “9-1-1” story and where things are headed for him from here.

Why hasn’t Buck seen “Glee” and hasn’t you Have you seen “Glee”? Choose your words carefully because Ryan Murphy is listening.

Listen, I’m taking my time to think about this. I’ve seen episodes, I haven’t seen them from start to finish. Don’t look at me like that. I have seen episodes. Buck is my age, so he was probably in his late teens, early 20s, and traveling the world. He was in Peru working as a bartender at that time in his life, and they weren’t airing Fox! He was searching for himself at that time. And maybe if he had seen “Glee,” he would have understood his bisexuality sooner. Watch “Glee” and discover some things about yourself.

When you saw that part of the script, did you laugh and talk to the writers about the fact that you were going to explore this in a Ryan Murphy production?

This doesn’t actually happen very often, but Tim called me before that particular scene and said, “I think I really want to make this point and I want Josh to do it.” And he explained it to me practically in the words that Josh uses. And I think I responded, “And let’s put it like this: the post-Glee world? He says, “Absolutely!” And I actually think it was a very smart way to do it. It’s a pretty deep and meaningful message, but using “Glee” in this less serious tactic to present that message is actually something that means more people will embrace it and understand it in a broader sense.

In this episode, the writers invoke Abby, a character who hasn’t appeared on “9-1-1” in a long time, in a very unexpected way. It is revealed that she is the ex-fiancee of Tommy, Buck’s current boyfriend. What was your reaction to that story and how did you work through that in this episode and what did it mean for Buck and Tommy’s future that you were evaluating your past sexuality?

Abby was a huge turning point in Buck’s life, as he mentions in the episode. So, although day by day in your conscious mind you’ve moved on from that experience, I think it’s fair enough that finding out that your new partner used to be engaged in this very important relationship is a bit jarring, so to speak. least. And originally, we saw a couple more scenes of Buck dealing with this new information, one of which was a great chat with Pete Krause, with Bobby and Buck trying to figure it all out. It was a wonderful coincidence that in Season 1, Abby mentioned a fiancé named Tommy. I don’t think they knew at the time that they would be introducing a character named Tommy many seasons later, but I felt like it would be a missed opportunity to not establish that link and make the universe feel a little bit. united. I think the opportunity presented itself, and it would have been foolish not to take advantage of it and present Buck with the opportunity to spiral, as he so often does.

After that spiral, Buck makes peace with Tommy’s past and his own, and even asked Tommy to move in with him, leading to a very disturbing ending to the episode. How did you feel about Tommy’s decision to break up with Buck with Tommy giving the reason that because he’s the first man Buck has dated since coming out as bisexual, he won’t be the last and Tommy doesn’t want this to continue. ? Where did Tommy think this relationship would ultimately go if that’s how he felt?

It’s actually funny when you put it that way. Well, then what were you doing in this relationship? It feels a little unfair to Buck. But don’t get me wrong, I understand why someone wants to protect themselves. He is obviously afraid of being hurt. I would say that maybe the way to do it, then, is to lead with that is your intention. So Buck ends up on the chopping block in this particular scenario and is left at the end of the episode. And I was quite intrigued to see how that scene would play out, because I knew that maybe two episodes before this episode, I was aware that they were going to break up, but I didn’t know how. And I think it’s quite appropriate in the sense that Tommy is trying to protect himself and I think it’s a totally fair thing to want to do. And I think that line that Tim wrote, “I’m the first, not the last,” is really very meaningful and beautiful. And he will always have been Buck’s first, and he will always be such a significant person in Buck’s life because of that. And now Buck has to take some steps of his own and really figure out who he is and who he wants to be with.

Buck shows up at Eddie’s house after the breakup, unaware of everything Eddie has worked out within himself in this episode. When he arrives, Eddie is making a “Risky Business” style scene, but quickly realizes something is wrong with Buck and then the two sit in silence and drink before the episode ends. What does Buck feel at that moment and why did Eddie go?

I think it says a lot about their relationship that when Eddie opens that door and he’s there with his collar up and in his boxers, Buck looks him up and down, takes it in, and is like, whatever. You’re dealing with your stuff, I’m dealing with my stuff; We don’t really even need to talk about them right now, let’s just have some company and be there for each other. I think it’s very much a sign of who they are for each other, and that you don’t need to talk about everything and that you can both deal with things in your lives in very different ways at the time. Eddie’s is very much a moment of joy and liberation, and Buck’s is obviously quite depressing. But they can still be there for each other while dealing with things in such separate ways. So, I think it really says a lot about the strength of their bond.

This interview has been edited and condensed.